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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  April 8, 2010 10:00pm-12:00am EDT

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and a good conversation, but a terrible topic, bullying. jesse ventura is here tomorrow night. here now is anderson cooper. it's time for "a.c. 360." anderson? thanks, larry. tonight, keeping them honest. a district attorney tells teachers if they use a new government-approved sex ed course, they could be arrested for promoting the sexual abuse of kids and end up in jail. also tonight, tea partiers unite. they say they're forming a national federation and sarah palin could play a crucial role. raw politics ahead. saving haiti. time running out to move tens of thousands to safety before the worst of the rains arrive. why is it taking so long? we'll talk to sean penn on the ground in port-au-prince. keeping them honest, should teaching sex ed be a crime? this is not a hypothetical question. in wisconsin a district attorney has warned teachers that if they use a new government-mandated sex ed course, they could be
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committing a crime and serve up to six years in prison. this is the letter the district attorney sent out to five school districts. and he's going to be on the program in a minute to defend the letter. but i just want to show you what the sex ed course that he's opposed to is actually designed to teach. it was approved by the state government. no republicans support it, i should point out, but democrats passed it. the d.a. is republican, by the way. the course is designed to be age appropriate, and it's described as an instructional program in human growth and development for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. so what exactly does it teach? i want to show you just some of the specifics. take a look at this. this is wording from the actual law passed in wisconsin. it teaches the benefits and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity. that's one of the things. it also teaches the health benefits, side effects and proper use of contraceptives. it will also teach how alcohol and drug use affect responsible decision-making. and it will also help students
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identify counseling, medical and legal resources for survivors of sexual abuse and assault. now, the schools can decide not to teach the course at all. they're not forced to teach it. and parents can take their kids out of the class. still, the prosecutor says this course teaches kids how to have sex and will lead to sexual abuse of children and to teachers who teach it, they could wind up in jail. let's talk to the district attorney. his name is scott southworth. and coincidentally, he was actually a "cnn hero" in 2007 after he adopted a child from iraq. scott, you wrote this letter and sent it out to districts in your area. and a lot of your critics say essentially this is a threat to get them not to obey the law, not to decide to teach these sex education classes. why did you send the letter? >> well, first of all, it certainly wasn't a threat. i love the teachers in my district. my child goes to school in general county. what i really wanted to do was protect them and protect students.
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unfortunately, this new mandate that the state has imposed takes us from sex education instruction, which i support, involving human reproduction, human physiology and crosses the line and goes way too far into instructing children effectively how to engage in recreational sex. >> but kids are obviously having sex. i mean, i mean, from all generations, kids have always had sex in high school. you don't prosecute kids for having sex. >> actually, we do, because it's against the law. and i get referrals frequently on children who are having sexual intercourse and sexual contact. it's against the law in wisconsin. and what i want to make sure is that we don't, "a," have teachers encouraging them implicitly to go out and have sex, and "b" we don't put our teachers in a position where someone files a complaint against that teacher for encouraging those kids to have
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sex. i want to protect the kids and the teachers until we can repeal or amend this particular law. >> but you say in the letter that even if the teachers have a thought that somebody is having sex and teaches class that basically that they can be -- they can be punished because of that. i mean, should teachers, then, if they know that two of their students -- if two 16-year-olds are having sex with each other, should they report those students to the authorities? >> they're required to report sexual assault of children. and in the state of wisconsin, because it's illegal, children also cannot give consent. there is no such thing as consensual sex with or by children. >> to your critics, you say this goes way beyond personal opinion. in your letter, you write these new mandates will make my job much more difficult by injecting programming into a radical program that sexualizes our children as early as kindergarten. i mean, that sounds like a political statement much more than a legal one, that this is a
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radical program to sexualize kids. >> well, i believe it is a radical program to sexualize kids. if it's viewed as political, let's make it clear. i'm an elected political leader. but i did everything i could to be, you know, honorable and act with great integrity. and i worked very hard to ensure that i was giving a legal opinion on this particular act and not my personal act. >> is it really your responsibility to then send out this letter to schools? isn't it kind of injecting yourself into this? and again, it raises the question of, you know, you are an elected official. you are a republican. is this just about politics to appeal to your base? >> well, no. i'm not up for re-election. i'm not running for anything at this point in time. and i've never sent a letter to my school districts in the five-plus years that i've been district attorney about sex education. and in my letter it doesn't say how they should teach or not teach. that's an issue that the school boards are going to have to deal with. the legislature has put a mandate on the schools on what
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they have to teach if they choose to teach human growth and development. my job ethically was to say this is a change in the law, and here's the dichotomy in the law that teachers and our school boards now face. and i wanted them to know what the law states, where i think some of the problems are, and what i recommend them to do until the legislature in the next legislative cycle can address it either to amend or repeal. >> scott southworth, i appreciate you being on. thank you. we'd like to get different viewpoints on this program. i want to bring in legal analyst lisa bloom. lisa, is there a legal basis for this? >> absolutely not, anderson. and if this district attorney doesn't understand the difference between teaching sex ed in schools and encouraging the sexual abuse of children, frankly, he is not fit to hold public office. he doesn't understand what every other district attorney in this country understands, which is giving children factual information about human anatomy and about sex and about birth control is a far cry from
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contributing to the delinquency of a minor. i'm absolutely shocked. and although he tries to backpedal and say i'm not threatening anyone, why is he sending this letter to schools as a district attorney? obviously, he is threatening teachers. >> he says he is sending a warning to teachers that they could liable to this in a civil case or even criminally. >> it's an absolute abuse of his power as a district attorney. my goodness. has he caught all the murderers and rapists in his jurisdiction? he's got nothing left to do except going after hardworking, underpaid teachers? are you kidding me? the legislature of wisconsin passed a law enabling schools to teach sex ed. and you outlined it at the beginning of this segment. there's nothing in there about teaching kids how to have sex. in fact, one of the very worthy parts of this program is teaching kids what to do if they are sexually abused. >> well, i mean, his point, though, i think, and his biggest problem is with the idea of actually teaching how to use contraceptives. he feels that's like, you know, doing a class on alcoholism and teaching kids how to mix drinks. that's how he puts it.
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>> children are entitled to factual information about the world, and children don't need to be taught how to have have sex. what they need to be taught about the facts of how to have sex, reproduction and the consequences and how to protect themselves. it's not unlawful for two 16-year-olds to have sex with each other or two 17-year-olds. when there's a difference in age, then it is unlawful. it is not unlawful for children to use contraceptives -- >> i did find it interesting -- >> go ahead. >> i did find it interesting that this bill allows parents to pull their kids out of the class if they want if they object to it, and it also encourages kids to talk to members of their family. but to the d.a.'s point, it says not only talk to your parents, it encourages them to basically shop around to any member of the family who might kind of be approving of them having sex. >> right. the legislature said that families can opt out of sex ed. and that's fine. but look, if you use this district attorney's reasoning, a parent talking to a child about sex is contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
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two kids talking about condoms or birth control or the morning-after pill could be prosecuted by him under the same reasoning. they're talking about sex. they're contributing to the delinquency of a minor. i mean, it's absolutely breathtaking, the scope of what he's proposing. >> do you think it's political? i mean, he is republican. no republicans voted for this. it was passed by democrats, and it clearly goes against his personal and in some cases religious beliefs. >> well, it clearly does. and he's entitled as a citizen to speak out and try to get the laws changed through the legislature. what he's not allowed to do is to abuse his position as district attorney, which is not a political position. he doesn't get to pick and choose the laws that he's going to enforce. he doesn't get to try to actively oppose a law that was just passed by the legislature. >> but he is an elected official. >> teachers with his office. >> he is an elected official, though. that's why his critics say politics are at play. he's appealing to his base, which he denies. >> but he's elected as district attorney. he's elected to enforce the laws and they're enacted by the legislature. that's civics 101. that's the way it works.
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>> bristol palin has taped an ad about teen pregnancy, sort of relates. i want to get your take on it, even has her baby tripp in it. take a look. >> what if i didn't come from a famous family? what if i didn't have all their support? >> we'll show you the complete ad in just a moment. also ahead, a plan tore tea party movements across the country to unite, forming a national federation with sailen palin perhaps playing a role. details on that ahead. you get the optionnow,, to name your price. is that even possible? uh, absolutely. trade? and i still get great service? more like super great. oh, you have a message. "hello." calculator humor. i'll be here all week. i will -- that was my schedule. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today.
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before the break we heard from a wisconsin prosecutor who says that teachers in his state could be committing a crime if they do what a new law tells them to do. teach a newly mandated sex ed course. it's a crime for minors to have sex in wisconsin even with other minors. it obviously still happens, though, which brings us to bristol palin's new public service announcement. sarah palin's daughter has been campaigning against teen pregnancy using herself as a poster child of sorts. here's the new ad. >> what if i didn't come from a famous family? what if i didn't have all their support? what if i didn't have all these opportunities? believe me, it wouldn't be
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pretty. pause before you play. >> that's her new message about teen sex. lisa bloom joins me again. lisa, do you think it's effective? >> a bit. i salute bristol for using her celebrity to get an important message out there. but i don't think it goes far enough. to tell teens to pause isn't really giving them the information that they need. you know, bristol grew up in alaska. it's been criticized by planned parenthood for not having comprehensive sex ed. i wonder if she had gotten information about the morning-after pill. if they get it by prescription, it would have made a difference in her life. i wonder if she got information about birth control pills, the patch. i think more information is needed. >> to her defense, it could mean pause, go get a condom. it could mean pause, think about your life, pause, decide to wait
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until you're married. >> it could mean a lot of things, but that's the problem. as the mother of two teens generally telling my kids to pause doesn't have a big effect. teens are impulsive. they don't understand the consequences of their actions. and i think giving them vague information is generally not all that helpful. >> but you've got to give her credit for doing this. >> absolutely. >> she could easily have not done it. although, some people have criticized her for -- that basically it sends a message like if you're rich and you have support, it's fine. but if you don't, then don't get pregnant. >> no, i saw a lot of humility in that ad. what she's saying is because i come from a famous family, you know, i have all of these privileges. i can wear the cute jacket and get my hair done and do a photo shoot. but for most people it's not like that. i thought that was a good message in the ad, actually. >> all right. lisa bloom, appreciate it. thanks very much. >> thanks. a lot more ahead. still ahead, the tea partiers unite. they plan to form a national federati federation. we'll take a look at that. we're also at the leadership conference in new orleans.
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we'll talk to candy crowley, david gergen and john avalon about the raw politics what the tea party is doing. plus the latest from hate take where millions are living in tent cities, the rainy season is bearing down. why is it taking people so long to move to safety? we'll talk to sean penn on the ground in port-au-prince.
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in "raw politics," a new development for the tea party movement. more than 20 tea party groups announced they're forming a national federation to promote their message. meantime in new orleans, the southern republican leadership conference kicked off. it's the most prominent gathering of republicans outside their presidential nominating convention. so here's what newt gingrich said just a short time ago. >> what the left wants to do, they know they can't win a fight when they're honest about who they are, so they want to be dishonest about who we are. what the left wants to do is say we're the party of no. and so here's what i want to ask you to encourage, every candidate you know, every incumbent you know, every staff person you know, every consultant you know, i think we should decide we're going to be the party of yes. >> all right. let's get to the raw politics with senior political analyst david gergen, candy crowley and cnn contributor john avalon. david, how significant is this idea of forming a national
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grouping of tea party groups? >> it's an important evolution, anderson, and a history of this, we'll see where it goes. but in the minds of many americans, the tea party folks seem to be a fringe group. i think they're becoming -- it's becoming parent this is more and more a nationwide protest in many ways. i was struck by two polls recently, a rasmussen poll, that found that more americans believe that the tea party is aligned with their values on policies than believe that president obama is aligned with them. that's pretty interesting. there's a gallup poll out now that's saying about 28% of americans believe that they, you know, they're basically within the tea party overall effort, that they agree with what the tea party is trying to do. so we're seeing a group that is trying to become mainstream, that's making strides in that direction, and the federation also reflects their frustration in what they feel has been a media misrepresentations over a
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long period of time. >> and fair enough. i include myself on that early on. john avalon, though, as they define themselves, do they risk perhaps losing some of that growing support? as they start to endorse particular candidates, define themselves on social issues, on financial issues? >> that is a line you walk. what's interesting about this federation, it is an evolutionary step. it's a combination of grass-roots groups and some more foundational conservative movement groups that are all coming together. still loose, still really a press release federation, but you're right. as they try to get more involved and play in republican primaries, backing conservative candidates, already you can see with this declaration they're trying to focus exclusively on fiscal issues because that's the foundation. the tea party movement is about anger at spending. but the social issues are still part of their coalition. so they use language like "constitutionally-limited government" as a way of creating a big tent for that issue without addressing it correctly. >> candy, you're down in new orleans at the southern republican leadership conference. what are you hearing? is this the year of sarah palin
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and the tea party movement, or is there resistance among more establishment, you know, party candidates? >> none that i can find here. i have to tell you, you heard newt gingrich tonight, while they didn't talk about sarah palin who will be talking down here, they didn't talk about her from the podium around in this group. she still remains a very electorate candidate. the tea party is something that republicans simply know that they have to deal with. and what they're trying to do is embrace the ideals of the tea party, embrace the passion of the tea party members without being linked to the excesses that are sometimes linked to the tea party, not necessarily true. so, you know, it is a fine line at times, but republicans understand that a lot of the passion in politics right now is from the people who call themselves members of the tea party. >> and david, how do you see sarah palin -- i mean, you know, she had a crowd of, what, was it 10,000 yesterday with michele bachmann? there are a few other republican
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candidates who can get that kind of a crowd. >> well, that's absolutely right. and she's making tons of money on the election circuit, anderson. you know, she gets heavily paid for these speeches. she's got a bunch of them scheduled this year. i continue to believe she's not going to be a candidate but will be a force in republican politics. and one aspect of the tea party -- >> david, let me just jump in. why wouldn't she be a candidate? i know it would obviously take away some of the earning power early on, but at least by kind of staying in the mix, it sort of allows her to, you know, i mean, continue to kick up energy. >> well, you know, anderson, when somebody resigns as governor before the term is -- long before the term is out, it does suggest, you know, they don't like governing all that much. and she's having a whale of a good time out there now. she's got a major voice. you know, she sold a ton of books. >> why mess that up? >> what's the latest number on that? >> no, i say why mess it up without actually running?
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>> no, and all the polls suggest she'd have a very hard time winning. but what i do think -- and candy and john can speak to this -- to what degree to the tea party folks and sarah palin pulling the other candidates to the right, other republicans? >> and john, you actually think she will be a candidate. >> i do. i think she's given herself a long runway towards 2012. she's no longer just the most polarizing figure in american politics. some polls show her national approval ratings at around 26%. but her approval rating among conservatives and republicans is astronomical. how much her supporters love her at this point should not be underestimated. and it might be enough to win the nomination or at least make a nomination competitive. but certainly when you get in the general election, it becomes a serious, serious deficit. that's one of the things the republican party has to work out. >> and the question of sarah palin and the tea party movement and some of the other candidates, mitt romney, tim pawlenty, is it pulling them in
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a different direction? >> yes. we've already seen this happen. tim pawlenty considered to be a moderate, not always in line with some of the thing that palin says. certainly not seen as a conservative on the -- you know, outer right wing of the party. he's out there. they need to embrace her. on the other point that you're talking about, i talked to someone tonight, anderson, who said i don't think she'll run for president. i don't think she wants to be king. i think she wants to be a kingmaker. and when you can draw those sorts of crowds, 10,000 people in april before a november election, that pretty much does help make you a kingmaker. she, meanwhile, can be raking all this money with tv shows and books. and it's a safe place for her to be because she doesn't have to be out there doing the interviews and talking policy. she can say what she wants without being challenged in most of the positions she's in and yet draw in all those forces. >> john, you were talking about the tea party movement and social issues. they have been now competing
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today against congressman bart stupak for his switched vote on health care reform. i want to play something from what we heard today. >> did you guys hear about that retirement party we had for harry reid last week? >> yeah! >> we think bart stupak should join him. and we invited congressman stupak to our tea party rallies the next couple of days, and he has not rsvp'ed to us. >> you hear, bart? bart? no, he's not here. >> so you do see on social issues like abortion, they're clearly some group at least that is bringing that up. >> sure. if stupak had ultimately not voted for it, he'd be a hero to these folks. and the issue for him was the abortion provision in the health care bill. the overall bill was not about
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that provision. it was about stopping what those folks see as a big government scheme. they're significant. they're trying to take a big step back and say this is primarily about fiscal issue. whenever that dose of obama syndrome sneaks in or whenever some of the more rhetoric gets really excessive, that ends up being a negative and alienates the voters that the party needs to really become a broader movement. >> john avalon, david gergen, candy crowley, thanks. next, an update on breaking news we brought you last night. the passenger joking his threat to blow up a plane. the joke he told led to chaos. what were the consequences? details ahead. and three of the teens charged with bullying the young girl who hanged herself on a stairwell, their lawyers were in court today. we'll tell you what happened in court. with shockguard technology give you immediate relief that lasts all day long. dr. scholl's. pain relief is a step away.
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she was just 15 when she committed suicide. prosecutors say phoebe prince took her life because of
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bullies. six teens are charged in the case. today new courtroom action. the details on that ahead. first, randi kaye joins us with a "360 news and business bulletin." >> president obama signed a major arms control agreement in the czech republic today. it cuts the number of nuclear weapons held by both countries by about one-third. the senate and russia's legislature must still ratify that treaty. a diplomat from the persian gulf country of qatar is a free man tonight, just one day after setting off a terrorism scare. he apparently lit a cigarette in the bathroom of a plane bound for denver wednesday night. he jokingly told an air marshal that he was trying to set his shoes on fire. but no explosives were found. on the job front, the number of americans filing for unemployment insurance for the first time jumped last week, up 18,000 claims to 460,000. and take a look at this. these bones found in south africa are the remains of a previously unknown species of man nearly 2 million years old,
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in fact. scientists say they walked upright and could easily climb trees. >> that's cool. >> apparently they were four feet tall or so with very long arms. they think they might have been part human, maybe a little bit apelike as well. >> wow, that's cool. coming up next, sean penn joins us from haiti. it's now the rainy season, but the earthquake survivors remain in not even tent cities, more like tarp cities that could be washed away. so what's the delay in moving them? we'll talk to sean about that. and tiger in the masters and trying to put the scandal behind him. if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death
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saving haiti. well, they survived the catastrophic earthquake. now more than 1 million people in haiti face another kind of potential disaster. we've been telling you about it really about the threat for weeks now. it's the rainy season. it's putting families in not even tent cities, tarp cities is what we're talking about, in grave danger. torrential rains could flood makeshift shelters. we've heard about plans and promises to relocate those at risk and move them to new settlements for months. we've been told the first wave of people to be moved will start this weekend. but will the sites be ready? that's the question. and are the people willing to go? we'll talk live to sean penn about the situation in a moment. first gary tuchman reports tonight from haiti. >> reporter: on this golf course in the hills above port-au-prince, there are no more greens or fairways. instead there are up to 60,000 displaced people in a place that regularly floods during rainy season. and it is now rainy season. >> translator: we don't like living here. but that's the way it is.
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>> reporter: anytime now it could start raining for days on end. because this camp is on a steep hillside, people could end up getting washed away. that's why for many weeks there has been talk of getting these and hundreds of thousands of other people in unsafe places out of port-au-prince to a safer place. and this is that safer place. it's an area called kiraly where this weekend haitian families are expected to be bussed in to start new lives. this area is only about 45 minutes away from downtown port-au-prince. but for the mostly desperately poor, displaced people who don't own vehicles and therefore never leave their densely populated city, this could feel like being on the moon. back at the golf course, this woman knows that she and her children are not safe here, but she's never spent any time out of port-au-prince. >> translator: i would like to go, but i don't know the area. i have to find out more about it. >> reporter: actor sean penn started an aide organization to
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help earthquake victims. his organization oversees the golf course camp. his trying to explain to people here that it's imperative they go someplace safer. so basically when the rains start coming, this creek starts overflowing and it's dark, children could just drown and be carried away in the rapids. >> absolutely. and you see these areas here, this all becomes very slick mud. and they were right on the edge of that, all the way up and down this ditch. because they come out of their tents to see what's happening. and they could slip right down into it. and they'd be carried away in the dark at this point. >> reporter: everyone agrees people who can't go back to their homes need to be in safer places. but why is it taking so long? it's been talked about since the days after the quake, almost three months ago. keeping them honest, we asked a member of the haitian presidential commission for reconstruction what took so long to declare eminent domain and buy these tracts of land. >> you have to coordinate it with the u.s. army, the corps of engineers, with the community, with the oxfam, together.
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>> reporter: it was a bureaucratic nightmare. >> it is rough. i've been involved with the task force, you know, presented the government in the process of try and sort out and making some planning for it. at the beginning, now it's rolling. it's going to go faster. >> reporter: when people arrive here, they will be given tents but ultimately will have simple homes built for them. there will be food halls, medical care and opportunities to make money doing jobs in this new community. but has the word gotten out? does the u.n. really believe thousands of people will leave port-au-prince for a place they know nothing about? you expect next week at this time that there will be thousands of people sleeping here, living here where we're standing right now? >> yes. it's going to happen. >> reporter: sunday is the target day for the new beginning. gary tuchman, cnn, port-au-prince, haiti. joining us now for the big "360" interview, sean penn, who you just saw in gary's report. sean, your camp needs to move thousands of people. today you all performed, i guess, a test run for the first
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relocation of about 100 families. how did it go? >> well, in any case, this is going to be at this stage some level of organized chaos. you know, i find it bewildering that so many of the aid organizations are so overextended and that the completion of one project is difficult to task. and we've got a couple of days to get things together, but in either case, the way that we're looking at it is the way that we struggle to focus people on, which is that this is very likely going to be a catastrophe if we don't make these relocations happen. you get people to safer ground. there's a lot of complicated mechanics to it. and a lot of very skilled people, but in a circumstance
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where experience would be an arrogance. it's not something anyone here has had to deal with in the complicated way it's played out in such a poverty-stricken zone. >> you go to these meetings at the u.n. i'm sure you spent many hours in these meetings. what are they like? how big a problem is this bureaucracy? >> well, it's a problem of bureaucracy, and it's also a problem of breaking through the glass in front of our own face and seeing just how real this concern is. there's always a balance between the arguments for the perfect plan versus a decisiveness. and i think that you could find me clearly on the side of decisiveness, that as long as we make all efforts to certainly to be very honest with the people,
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to let them know what their option is, whether it relates to aid incentives or in terms of the danger, the risk that they are at by staying where they are, that at that point it is their option, that our prerogative is to provide an area where people may very well die if the rains get heavy, have an opportunity to live and then a lot more organization will have to go into that to get to the future. you know, this is a disaster period where decisive action has to be taken. and this is a country that had minimal health care to begin with and hospitals are being allowed to close despite all the enormous funds that internationally and in the united states that people have put forward. and i think it's time that they
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demand of the agencies to whom they've given the money, that they release those monies and spend them decisively. it's a six-month period. it has to be looked at as an emergency. >> why are hospitals closing now? you have all these people who underwent amputations, who need follow-on care. why has that happened? >> well, it's not only the follow-up care, it's also the care for the impending issues that are coming. the reason that they're closing is because in general, when you have these kinds of funds, the organizations themselves will contract and spend money on evaluators. that takes time. the negotiations take time. and hospitals close while those negotiations go on before evaluations are ever made and the hospitals run out of money after having not been able to pay staffs that have been working 12 and more hour shifts for all of these months and months before the earthquake happened, and all of these agencies are aware of it, and they let it happen.
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they let it close. and if people die, the blood is on their hands. >> you know, what's the difference -- i mean, you used to watch the stuff on tv and see this stuff, and katrina, that's what motivated you to go down there. you saw this in haiti. that's what motivated you to go down there. you spent weeks and weeks there, longer probably than any other well-known person, and you're running a camp of some 60,000 people. what is different -- i mean, what have you learned about, you know, a lot of people look at the stuff, see it on tv. over the last couple months, what have you learned about doing this, about how this actually works on the ground? >> i think that in disaster overcaution kills people is the likely lesson. and i hope that we don't learn it factually. >> sean penn, i appreciate you being with us tonight, again, thank you very much. we'll check in with you again. >> thanks a lot. >> join the live chat now at ac360.com. still ahead, "keeping them hone honest."
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what washington is doing or not doing to try to prevent wall street greed from triggering another financial meltdown. we'll hear from andrew ross sorkin, the author of "too big to fail." plus a "family feud" contestant tells us why he thinks ellen degeneres is famous. the answer going to kind of stun you. tonight's "shot." run out of a . when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids, lexus hybrids have traveled 5.5 billion miles. and that's quite a head start. ♪
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keeping them honest, how wall street greed almost took down our financial system and what washington is doing or not
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doing in trying to prevent it from happening again. former citigroup executives charles prince and robert rubin to capitol hill today and not for a friendly chat. >> i don't know that you can have it two ways. you either were pulling the levers or asleep at the switch. >> that was phil angelides, it's like the commission digging into how it happened in the first place. so the question tonight, who's charles prince and robert rubin? in case you don't know, i'm going to walk you over to the wall here. let's start with prince. before citigroup helped melt down wall street and the economy, before the government had to pump so much money into citigroup that it became the bank's biggest shareholder, before all of that, way back in 2007, this guy was the one calling the shots in what was then the biggest bank in the u.s. and for a brief time even the biggest bank in the world. then, of course, it all collapsed brought down by bad bets and greedy bets on subprime mortgages. now, here is what prince had to say today. >> i'm sorry that the financial crisis has had such a
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devastating impact on our country. i'm sorry for the millions of people, average americans who have lost their homes, and i'm sorry that our management team, starting with me, like so many others could not see the unprecedented market collapse that lay before us. >> all right. so he said he's sorry. now, when prince was pressured to leave in 2007, guess how much money he got when he left. and this is already after the company had collapsed, lost some $60 billion in worth. his exit package at the time was worth about $40 million. $40 million. included stock and stock options, a bone us in 2007, a pension, an office with assistant. he even got a car and a driver for five years. you'd think with all that money, he could afford his own car and driver. the men who replaced him, who replaced prince, is this guy, robert rubin. you may know him. rubin took over as chairman and ceo. but according to prince, rubin didn't have any responsibility for what happened to citigroup. that's the story they gave
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today. keeping them honest, we're joined by andrew ross sorkin, the author of "too big to fail." andrew, it's pretty incredible. we heard some apologies today from bank executives, but certainly that's no comfort to so many americans who have lost their homes, lost their savings and essentially these bankers are repeating this theme that we've heard over and over again from them that the crisis was unforeseeable. but, i mean, that's not true. >> there were no real apologies today. i think that they said they were sorry. they said that they were regretful, but they were regretful, what they said was, for not being more pressient. that's what stuck with a lot of people, that it wasn't a true mea culpa. >> you would think these highly paid people, supposedly experts in this, would have had their eyes open. >> when you think about frankly the numbers, the money, and when you think about robert rubin who spoke in front of this commission today, when you think about charles prince, chuck prince, who was the ceo of the company during this time, and
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the amount of money that they took out of the company and made during this period, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars that these gentlemen made. and yet they didn't see it. >> and also, i learned from your writing that the ceo of citigroup, chuck prince, when he left in 2007, i mean, after citigroup's market value dropped over $60 billion, it's not as if he was kind of left quietly or was shown the door. they gave him, what, $12 million? it went down to $10 million? >> this to me was the most unconscionable part of it. you have chuck prince who the company lost $64 billion in their market cap, and yet the board of directors is giving them a discretionary bonus. this was in no contract. they didn't have to do this. this was literally a thank-you present on the way out. $12.5 million. >> in your book, you write, and i quote, that the handful of proposals that have been introduced to put the financial system back in its right place and rein in risk have seemed tepid and halfhearts, at best.
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do you think the reforms that we're looking at now could prevent another crisis? does it have any teeth? >> you know, i still am very, very worried that we're not really getting a changing the undergirdings of wall street, the undergirdings of our financial system. we're really just doing things that are quite superficial. >> but some of it's not brain surgery in terms of oversight. one banker said, look, we were dealing in bonds and securities and vehicles that had aaa ratings from bond agencies. but those bond agencies were being paid by these financial companies. >> the rating agencies are a huge culprit in all of this because this was a group that was giving them aaa ratings. the good housekeeping seal of approval on these things. and yet guess who was paying them. the banks. so the whole system was corrupted and conflicted from the very beginning. >> you know, one of the things these bankers said -- and i don't want to misquote him -- but he essentially was saying, look, even if we saw the dangers ahead and knew the music would
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stop, we didn't want to stop dancing because if you do that, your employees will leave and go to other places where they could make these huge salaries. there was a financial incentive to be irresponsible even for those who kind of knew this isn't sustainable. >> you're referring to this great quote by chuck prince who said while the music's still playing, you've got to dance. in fact, today one of the comments that he made, and he had actually made two or three years ago, was that he was almost asking the regulators to step in and impose restrictions because he felt that he as the ceo couldn't. that the industry had almost gotten too out of control. >> of course, had he done that, he might not be quite so reviled and despised today. >> you might be correct. he would have argued at the time that he probably would have lost his job sooner. >> and i guess if you've got hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, who cared about being reviled and despised. i think among your friends you're really quite popular. >> i think the problem with all of this, we created an
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incentives system where so many of the people in charge of risk at these firms had already made so much money. they had taken the money out. they had an enormous cushion. you never had a situation where they really had their own net worth, their real money that really mattered on the line the same way so many people frankly on main street do every day. >> andrew ross sorkin, the book is "too big to fail." andrew, thanks. >> thank you. coming up next, the latest, the case of the massachusetts high school student. accused of being -- well, accused of bullying a 15-year-old classmate. six students were accused of this. 15 years old. when "family feud" contestant tells us why ellen degeneres is famous. his answer is kind of bizarre. you'll have to see it to believe it. we'll be right back.
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following a number of other stories to tell you about, randi kaye has a "360 bulletin." >> the search for four missing miners could resume if the air quality in the upper big branch mine continues to improve. rescuers entered the mine this morning but were pulled out when gas levels became just too high. officials are taking air samples every 15 minutes and say the levels are decreasing. a "360" follow now,
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15-year-old phoebe prince hanged herself last january after months of harassment at a massachusetts high school. well, today lawyers entered not guilty pleas for three 16-year-old girls accused of bullying her. three other teenagers have already pled not guilty to a long list of charges. tiger woods today shot a 4 under par 68 in augusta, georgia. that's his best opening-round score of his masters career and his first tournament since the car accident last thanksgiving led to sexual revelations and a more than four-month hiatus from the game of golf. and two canadian brothers adopted by different families spent years trying to find each other. they both contacted a post-adoption services agency that told them, get this, they were neighbors living just yards apart. >> no. >> yes, for the past two years. >> that is crazy! >> they actually lived right across the street from each other. and from what i understand, one of them who found out that this was the case waited for the other one to get home from work one night, walked over and introduced himself.
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>> that is crazy. incredible. >> isn't that amazing? >> unbelievable. i don't know if you've seen this "shot." ellen degeneres and "the family feud." this is on youtube. she was one of the topics on the game show. the family is being asked to name something that you know about her. check out one of these responses. >> everyone knows about ellen degeneres. >> i know she has a talk show. >> a talk show. show me the talk show. something everyone knows about ellen degeneres. >> she loves to dance. >> she loves to dance. mike. a chance now to sweep the board. what answer remains. give it to me. >> i would say that she doesn't like our country very well. >> doesn't like the country. >> likes to dance, but doesn't like our country? >> why would this guy say that. it's on bizarre.
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what i find odder, the audience is, like, what? >> what did that mean? >> she doesn't like our country? who is this guy? where does he get this idea? she's a very nice person. >> clearly confused. >> much more ahead on "360." ask
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tonight, keeping them honest. a district attorney tells teachers if they use a new government-approved sex ed course, they could be arrested for promoting the sexual abuse of kids and end up in jail. also tonight, tea partiers unite. they say they're forming a national federation and sarah palin could play a crucial role. raw politics ahead. saving haiti. time running out to move tens of thousands to safety before the worst of the rains arrive. why is it taking so long? we'll talk to sean penn on the ground in port-au-prince.
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first up, though, keeping them honest. should teaching sex ed be a crime? this is not a hypothetical question. in wisconsin a district attorney has warned teachers that if they use a new state government mandated sex ed course, they could be committing a crime and serve up to six years in prison. this is the letter the district attorney sent out to five school districts. and he's going to be on the program in a minute to defend the letter. but i just want to show you what the sex ed course that he's opposed to is actually designed to teach. it was approved by the state government. no republicans support it, i should point out, but democrats passed it. the d.a. is republican, by the way. the course is designed to be age appropriate, and it's described as an instructional program in human growth and development for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. so what exactly does it teach? i want to show you just some of the specifics. take a look at this. this is wording from the actual law passed in wisconsin. it teaches the benefits and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity. that's one of the things.
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it also teaches the health benefits, side effects and proper use of contraceptives. it will also teach how alcohol and drug use affect responsible decision-making. and it will also help students identify counseling, medical and legal resources for survivors of sexual abuse and assault. now, the schools can decide not to teach the course at all. they're not forced to teach it. and parents can take their kids out of the class. still, the prosecutor says this course teaches kids how to have sex and will lead to sexual abuse of children and to teachers who teach it, they could wind up in jail. let's talk to the district attorney. his name is scott southworth. and coincidentally, he was actually a "cnn hero" in 2007 after he adopted a child from iraq. scott, you wrote this letter and sent it out to districts in your area. and a lot of your critics say essentially this is a threat to get them not to obey the law, not to decide to teach these sex education classes. why did you send the letter?
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>> well, first of all, it certainly wasn't a threat. i love the teachers in my district. my child goes to school in the county. what i really wanted to do was protect them and protect students. unfortunately, this new mandate that the state has imposed takes us from sex education instruction, which i support, involving human reproduction, human physiology and crosses the line and goes way too far into instructing children effectively how to engage in recreational sex. >> but kids are obviously having sex. i mean, i mean, from all generations, kids have always had sex in high school. you don't prosecute kids for having sex. >> actually, we do, because it's against the law. and i get referrals frequently on children who are having sexual intercourse and sexual contact. it's against the law in wisconsin. and what i want to make sure is that we don't, "a," have more victims because they believe that the teachers are
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explicitly or implicitly are encouraging them to go out and have sex, and "b," we don't put our teachers in a position where someone files a complaint against that teacher for encouraging those kids to have sex. i want to protect the kids and the teachers until we can repeal or amend this particular law. >> but you say in the letter that even if the teachers have a thought that somebody is having sex and teaches class that basically that they can be -- they can be punished because of that. i mean, should teachers, then, if they know that two of their students -- if two 16-year-olds are having sex with each other, should they report those students to the authorities? >> they're required to report sexual assault of children. and in the state of wisconsin, because it's illegal, children also cannot give consent. there is no such thing as consensual sex with or by children. >> to your critics, they say this goes way beyond personal opinion. in your letter, you write these
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new mandates will make my job much more difficult by converting objective human growth and development programming into a radical program that sexualizes our children as early as kindergarten. i mean, that sounds like a political statement much more than a legal one, that this is a radical program to sexualize kids. >> well, i believe it is a radical program to sexualize kids. if it's viewed as political, let's make it clear. i'm an elected political leader. but i did everything i could to be, you know, honorable and act with great integrity. and i worked very hard to ensure that i was giving a legal opinion on this particular act and not my personal act. >> is it really your responsibility to then send out this letter to schools? isn't it kind of injecting yourself into this? and again, it raises the question of, you know, you are an elected official. you are a republican. is this just about politics to appeal to your base? >> well, no. i'm not up for re-election. i'm not running for anything at this point in time. and i've never sent a letter to
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my school districts in the five-plus years that i've been district attorney about sex education. and in my letter it doesn't say how they should teach or not teach. that's an issue that the school boards are going to have to deal with. the legislature has put a mandate on the schools on what they have to teach if they choose to teach human growth and development. my job ethically was to say this is a change in the law, and here's the dichotomy in the law that teachers and our school boards now face. and i wanted them to know what the law states, where i think some of the problems are, and what i recommend them to do until the legislature in the next legislative cycle can address it either to amend or repeal. >> scott southworth, i appreciate you being on. thank you. we'd like to get different viewpoints on this program. i want to bring in legal analyst lisa bloom. lisa, is there a legal basis for this? >> absolutely not, anderson. and if this district attorney doesn't understand the difference between teaching sex ed in schools and encouraging the sexual abuse of children, frankly, he is not fit to hold public office. he doesn't understand what every
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other district attorney in this country understands, which is giving children factual information about human anatomy and about sex and about birth control is a far cry from contributing to the delinquency of a minor. i'm absolutely shocked. and although he tries to backpedal and say i'm not threatening anyone, why is he sending this letter to schools as a district attorney? obviously, he is threatening teachers. >> he says it's a warning to teachers that they could liable to this in a civil case or even criminally. >> it's an absolute abuse of his power as a district attorney. my goodness. has he caught all the murderers and rapists in his jurisdiction? he's got nothing left to do except going after hardworking, underpaid teachers? are you kidding me? the legislature of wisconsin passed a law enabling schools to teach sex ed. and you outlined it at the beginning of this segment. there's nothing in there about teaching kids how to have sex. in fact, one of the very worthy parts of this program is teaching kids what to do if they are sexually abused. >> well, i mean, his point, though, i think, and his biggest problem is with the idea of
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actually teaching how to use contraceptives. he feels that's like, you know, doing a class on alcoholism and teaching kids how to mix drinks. that's how he puts it. >> children are entitled to factual information about the world, and children don't need to be taught how to have have sex. what they need to be taught are the facts about sex, reproduction and the consequences and how to protect themselves. it's not unlawful for two 16-year-olds to have sex with each other or two 17-year-olds. when there's a difference in age, then it is unlawful. it is not unlawful for children to use contraceptives -- >> i did find it interesting -- >> -- which is important -- go ahead. >> i did find it interesting that this bill allows parents to pull their kids out of the class if they want if they object to it, and it also encourages kids to talk to members of their family. but to the d.a.'s point, he says not only talk to your parents, it encourages them to basically shop around to any member of the family who might kind of be approving of them having sex. >> right.
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the legislature said that families can opt out of sex ed. and that's fine. but look, if you use this district attorney's reasoning, a parent talking to a child about sex is contributing to the delinquency of a minor. two kids talking about condoms or birth control or the morning-after pill could be prosecuted by him under the same reasoning. they're talking about sex. they're contributing to the delinquency of a minor. i mean, it's absolutely breathtaking, the scope of what he's proposing. >> do you think it's political? i mean, he is republican. no republicans voted for this. it was passed by democrats, and it clearly goes against his personal and in some cases religious beliefs. >> well, it clearly does. and he's entitled as a citizen to speak out and try to get the laws changed through the legislature. what he's not allowed to do is to abuse his position as district attorney, which is not a political position. he doesn't get to pick and choose the laws that he's going to enforce. he doesn't get to try to actively oppose a law that was just passed by the legislature. >> but he is an elected official. >> he tried to threaten teachers with his office. >> he is an elected official, though. that's why his critics say politics are at play. he's appealing to his base,
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essentially, which he denies. >> but he's elected as district attorney. he's elected to enforce the laws of the county, and the laws are passed by the legislature. that's civics 101. that's the way it works. >> lisa, stick around for a minute because bristol palin has taped an ad about teen pregnancy, sort of relates. i want to get your take on it, even has her baby tripp in it. take a look. >> what if i didn't come from a famous family? what if i didn't have all their support? >> we'll show you the complete ad in just a moment. also ahead, a plan for tea party movements across the country to unite, forming a national federation with sarah palin perhaps playing a role. details on that ahead. every time you take advil liqui-gels you're taking the pain reliever that works faster on tough pain than tylenol rapid release gels. and not only faster. stronger, too. relief doesn't get any better than this.
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before the break we heard from a wisconsin prosecutor who says that teachers in his state could be committing a crime if they do what a new law tells them to do. teach a newly mandated sex ed course. it's a crime for minors to have sex in wisconsin even with other minors. it obviously still happens, though, which brings us to bristol palin's new public service announcement. sarah palin's daughter has been campaigning against teen pregnancy using herself as a poster child of sorts. here's the new ad. >> what if i didn't come from a famous family? what if i didn't have all their support? what if i didn't have all these opportunities?
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believe me, it wouldn't be pretty. pause before you play. >> that's her new message about teen sex. lisa bloom joins me again. lisa, do you think it's effective? >> a bit. i salute bristol for using her celebrity to get an important message out there. but i don't think it goes far enough. to tell teens to pause isn't really giving them the information that they need. you know, bristol grew up in alaska. it's been criticized by planned parenthood for not having comprehensive sex ed. i wonder if she had gotten information about the morning-after pill. which is available over the counter to people over the age of 17. kids under that age, if they get it by prescription, it would have made a difference in her life. i wonder if she got information about condoms, birth control pills, the patch. i think more information is needed. >> to her defense, it could mean pause, go get a condom. it could mean pause, think about
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your life, pause, decide to wait until you're married. she's promoting abstinence. >> it could mean a lot of things, but that's the problem. as the mother of two teens generally telling my kids to pause doesn't have a big effect. teens are impulsive. they don't understand the consequences of their actions. and i think giving them vague information is generally not all that helpful. >> but you've got to give her credit for doing this. >> absolutely. >> she could easily have not done it. although, some people have criticized her for -- that basically it sends a message like if you're rich and you have support, it's fine. but if you don't, then don't get pregnant. >> no, i saw a lot of humility in that ad. what she's saying is because i come from a famous family, you know, i have all of these privileges. i can wear the cute jacket and get my hair done and do a photo shoot. but for most people it's not like that. i thought that was a good message in the ad, actually. >> all right. lisa bloom, appreciate it. thanks very much. >> thanks. a lot more ahead. still ahead, the tea partiers unite. they plan to form a national federation. we'll take a look at that.
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we're also at the leadership conference in new orleans. we'll talk to candy crowley, david gergen and john avalon about the raw politics what the tea party is doing. plus the latest from haiti where millions are living in tent cities, the rainy season is bearing down. why is it taking people so long to move to safety? we'll talk to sean penn on the ground in port-au-prince.
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in "raw politics," a new development for the tea party movement. more than 20 tea party groups announced they're forming a national federation to promote their message. meantime in new orleans, the southern republican leadership conference kicked off. it's the most prominent gathering of republicans outside their presidential nominating convention. so here's what newt gingrich said just a short time ago. >> what the left wants to do,
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they know they can't win a fight when they're honest about who they are, so they want to be dishonest about who we are. what the left wants to do is say we're the party of no. and so here's what i want to ask you to encourage, every candidate you know, every incumbent you know, every staff person you know, every consultant you know, i think we should decide we're going to be the party of yes. >> all right. let's get to the raw politics with senior political analyst david gergen, candy crowley and cnn contributor john avalon. david, how significant is this idea of forming a national grouping of tea party groups? >> it's an important evolution, anderson, and a history of this, we'll see where it goes. but in the minds of many americans, the tea party folks seem to be a fringe group. i think they're becoming -- it's becoming apparent this is more and more a nationwide protest in many ways. i was struck by two polls recently, a rasmussen poll, that found that more americans believe that the tea party is aligned with their values on
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policies than believe that president obama is aligned with them. that's pretty interesting. there's a gallup poll out now that's saying about 28% of americans believe that they, you know, they're basically within the tea party overall effort, that they agree with what the tea party is trying to do. so we're seeing a group that is trying to become mainstream, that's making strides in that direction, and the federation also reflects their frustration at what they feel has been a media misrepresentation over a long period of time. >> and fair enough. i include myself on that early on. john avalon, though, as they define themselves, do they risk perhaps losing some of that growing support? as they start to endorse particular candidates, define themselves on social issues, on financial issues? >> that is a line you walk. what's interesting about this federation, it is an evolutionary step. it's a combination of grass-roots groups and some more foundational conservative movement groups that are all coming together.
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still loose, still really a press release federation, but you're right. as they try to get more involved and play in republican primaries, backing conservative candidates, already you can see with this declaration they're trying to focus exclusively on fiscal issues because that's the foundation. at its foundation, the tea party movement is about anger at spending. but the social issues are still part of their coalition. so they use language like "constitutionally-limited government" as a way of creating a big tent for that issue without addressing it correctly. >> candy, you're down in new orleans at the southern republican leadership conference. what are you hearing? is this the year of sarah palin and the tea party movement, or is there resistance to that among more established, you know, party candidates? >> none that i can find here. i have to tell you, you heard newt gingrich tonight, while they didn't talk about sarah palin who will be talking down here, they didn't talk about her from the podium around in this group. she still remains a very electorate candidate. the tea party is something that republicans simply know that they have to deal with. and what they're trying to do is
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embrace the ideals of the tea party, embrace the passion of the tea party members without being linked to the excesses that are sometimes linked to the tea party, not necessarily true. so, you know, it is a fine line at times, but republicans understand that a lot of the passion in politics right now is from the people who call themselves members of the tea party. >> and david, how do you see sarah palin -- i mean, you know, she had a crowd of, what, was it 10,000 yesterday with michele bachmann? there are a few other republican candidates who can get that kind of a crowd. >> well, that's absolutely right. and she's making tons of money on the election circuit, anderson. you know, she gets heavily paid for these speeches. she's got a bunch of them scheduled this year. i continue to believe she's not going to be a candidate but will be a force in republican politics. and one aspect of the tea party -- >> david, let me just jump in. why wouldn't she be a candidate? i know it would obviously take away some of the earning power
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early on, but at least by kind of staying in the mix, it sort of allows her to, you know, i mean, continue to kick up energy. >> well, you know, anderson, when somebody resigns as governor before the term is -- long before the term is out, it does suggest, you know, they don't like governing all that much. and she's having a whale of a good time out there now. she's got a major voice. you know, she sold a ton of books. >> why mess that up? >> what's the latest number on that? >> no, i say why mess it up without actually running? >> no, and all the polls suggest she'd have a very hard time winning. but what i do think -- and candy and john can speak to this -- to what degree do the tea party folks and sarah palin pulling the other candidates to the right, other republicans? >> and john, you actually think she will be a candidate. >> i do. i think she's given herself a long runway, in effect, towards a 2012 run. she's no longer just the most polarizing figure in american politics. at this point some polls show her national approval ratings at around 26%.
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but her approval rating among conservatives and republicans is astronomical. how much her supporters love her at this point should not be underestimated. and it might be enough to win the nomination or at least make a nomination competitive. but certainly when you get in the general election, it becomes a serious, serious deficit. so that's one of the tangents that the republican party has to work out. >> and the question of sarah palin and the tea party movement and some of the other candidates, mitt romney, tim pawlenty, mike huckabee, is it pulling them in a different direction? >> yes. we've already seen this happen. tim pawlenty considered to be a moderate, not always in line with some of the thing that palin says. certainly not seen as a conservative on the -- you know, outer right wing of the party. he's out there. they need to embrace her. on the other point that you're talking about, i talked to someone tonight, anderson, who said i don't think she'll run for president. i don't think she wants to be king. i think she wants to be a kingmaker. and when you can draw those
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sorts of crowds, 10,000 people in april before a november election, that pretty much does help make you a kingmaker. she, meanwhile, can be raking all this money with tv shows and books. and it's a safe place for her to be because she doesn't have to be out there doing the interviews and talking policy. she can say what she wants without being challenged in most of the positions she's in and yet draw in all those forces. >> john, you were talking about the tea party movement and social issues. they have been now competing today against congressman bart stupak for his switched vote on health care reform. i want to play something from what we heard today. >> did you guys hear about that retirement party we had for harry reid last week? >> yeah! >> we think bart stupak should join him. and we invited congressman stupak to our tea party rallies
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over the next couple days, and he has not rsvp'ed to us. >> is he here? you here, bart? bart? bart? no, he's not here. >> so you do see on social issues like abortion, they're clearly some group at least that is bringing that up. >> sure. if stupak had ultimately not voted for it and he was going back and forth, he'd be a hero to these folks. and the issue for him was the abortion provision in the health care bill. the overall bill was not about that provision. it was about stopping what those folks see as a big government scheme. but the fissures here are significant. they're trying to take a big step back and say this is primarily about fiscal issues. whenever that dose of obama syndrome sneaks in or whenever some of the more rhetoric gets really excessive, that ends up being a negative and alienates the independent voters that the tea party really needs to really become a broader movement. >> john avalon, david gergen, candy crowley, thanks.
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next, an update on breaking news we brought you last night. the passenger joking his threat to blow up a plane. the joke he told led to chaos. what were the consequences? details ahead. and three of the teens charged with bullying the young girl who ended up taking her own life, hanging herself on a stairwell, their lawyers were in court today. we'll tell you what happened in we'll tell you what happened in court. we should be a household name.
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coming up, a "360 follow." she was just 15 when she committed suicide. prosecutors say phoebe prince took her life because of bullies. harassment that went on for months. six teens are charged in the case. today new courtroom action. the details on that ahead. first, randi kaye joins us with a "360 news and business bulletin." randi? >> president obama signed a major arms control agreement in the czech republic today. it cuts the number of nuclear weapons held by both countries by about one-third. the senate and russia's legislature must still ratify that treaty. a diplomat from the persian gulf country of qatar is a free man tonight, just one day after
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setting off a terrorism scare. he apparently lit a cigarette in the bathroom of a plane bound for denver wednesday night. he jokingly told an air marshal that he was trying to set his shoes on fire. but no explosives were found. on the job front, the number of americans filing for unemployment insurance for the first time jumped last week, up 18,000 claims to 460,000. and take a look at this. these bones found in south africa are the remains of a previously unknown species of man nearly 2 million years old, in fact. scientists say they walked upright and could easily climb trees. >> that's cool. >> apparently they were 4 feet tall or so with very long arms. they think they might have been part human, maybe a little bit apelike as well. >> wow, that's cool. >> yeah. >> neat to see. coming up next, sean penn joins us from haiti. it's now the rainy season, but the earthquake survivors remain in not even tent cities, more like tarp cities that could be washed away. so what's the delay in moving them? we'll talk to sean about that.
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saving haiti. well, they survived the catastrophic earthquake. now more than 1 million people in haiti face another kind of potential disaster. we've been telling you about it really about the threat for weeks now. it's the rainy season. it's putting families in not even tent cities, tarp cities is what we're talking about, in grave danger. torrential rains could flood makeshift shelters. we've heard about plans and promises to relocate those at risk and move them to new settlements for months. they were talking about that. we're told that the first wave of people to be moved will start this weekend. but will the sites be ready? that's the question. and are the people willing to go? we'll talk live to sean penn about the situation in a moment. first gary tuchman reports tonight from haiti.
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>> reporter: on this golf course in the hills above port-au-prince, there are no more greens or fairways. instead there are up to 60,000 displaced people in a place that regularly floods during rainy season. and it is now rainy season. >> translator: we don't like living here. but that's the way it is. >> reporter: anytime now it could start raining for days on end. because this camp is on a steep hillside, people could end up getting washed away. that's why for many weeks there has been talk of getting these and hundreds of thousands of other people in unsafe places out of port-au-prince to a safer place. and this is that safer place. it's an area where this weekend haitian families are expected to be bussed in to start new lives. this area is only about 45 minutes away from downtown port-au-prince. but for the mostly desperately poor, displaced people who don't own vehicles and therefore never leave their densely populated city, this could feel like being
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on the moon. back at the golf course, this woman knows that she and her children are not safe here, but she's never spent any time out of port-au-prince. >> translator: i would like to go, but i don't know the area. i have to find out more about it. >> reporter: actor sean penn started an aide started an aid organization to help earthquake victims. his organization oversees the golf course camp. his trying to explain to people here that it's imperative they go someplace safer. so basically when the rains start coming, this creek starts overflowing and it's dark, children could just drown and be carried away in the rapids. >> absolutely. and you see these areas here, this all becomes very slick mud. and they were right on the edge of that, all the way up and down this ditch. because they come out of their tents to see what's happening. and they could slip right down into it. and they'd be carried away in the dark at this point. >> reporter: everyone agrees people who can't go back to their homes need to be in safer places. but why is it taking so long? it's been talked about since the days after the quake, almost
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three months ago. keeping them honest, we asked a member of the haitian presidential commission for reconstruction what took so long to declare eminent domain and by these tracts of private land. >> we ought to be doing it faster. but you have to coordinate with the u.s. army, the corps of engineers, with the community, with the oxfam, together. >> reporter: it was a bureaucratic nightmare. >> it is rough. i've been involved with the task force, you know, presented the government in the process of try and sort out and making some planning for it. at the beginning, now it's rolling. it's going to go faster. >> reporter: when people arrive here, they will be given tents but ultimately will have simple homes built for them. there will be food halls, medical care and opportunities to make money doing jobs in this new community. but has the word gotten out? does the u.n. really believe thousands of people will leave port-au-prince for a place they know nothing about? you expect next week at this time that there will be thousands of people sleeping here, living here where we're standing right now?
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>> yes. it's going to happen. >> reporter: sunday is the target day for the new beginning. gary tuchman, cnn, port-au-prince, haiti. joining us now for the big "360" interview, sean penn, who you just saw in gary's report. sean, your camp needs to move thousands of people. today you all performed, i guess, a test run for the first relocation of about 100 families. how did it go? >> well, in any case, this is going to be at this stage some level of organized chaos. you know, i find it bewildering that so many of the aid organizations are so overextended and that the completion of one project is difficult to task. and we've got a couple of days to get things together, but in either case, the way that we're looking at it is the way that we struggle to focus people on,
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which is that this is very likely going to be a catastrophe if we don't make these relocations happen. you get people to safer ground. there's a lot of complicated mechanics to it. and a lot of very skilled people, but in a circumstance where experience would be an arrogance. it's not something anyone here has had to deal with in the complicated way that this zavsz disaster has played itself out in such a poverty-stricken zone. >> you go to these meetings at the u.n. i'm sure you spent many hours in these meetings. what are they like? how big a problem is this bureaucracy? >> well, it's a problem of bureaucracy, and it's also a problem of breaking through the glass in front of our own face and seeing just how real this concern is. there's always a balance between
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the arguments for the perfect plan versus a decisiveness. and i think that you could find me clearly on the side of decisiveness, that as long as we make all efforts to certainly to be very honest with the people, to let them know what their option is, whether it relates to aid incentives or in terms of the danger, the risk that they are at by staying where they are, that at that point it is their option, that our prerogative is to provide an area where people may very well die if the rains get heavy, have an opportunity to live and then a lot more organization will have to go into that to get to the future. you know, this is a disaster period where decisive action has to be taken.
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and this is a country that had minimal health care to begin with and hospitals are being allowed to close despite all the enormous funds that internationally and in the united states that people have put forward. and i think it's time that they demand of the agencies to whom they've given the money, that they release those monies and spend them decisively. it's a six-month period. it has to be looked at as an emergency. >> why are hospitals closing now? you have all these people who underwent amputations, who need follow-on care. why has that happened? >> well, it's not only the follow-up care, it's also the care for the impending issues that are coming. the reason that they're closing is because in general, when you have these kinds of funds, the organizations themselves will contract and spend money on evaluators.
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that takes time. the negotiations take time. and hospitals close while those negotiations go on before evaluations are ever made and the hospitals run out of money after having not been able to pay staffs that have been working 12 and more hour shifts for all of these months and months before the earthquake happened, and all of these agencies are aware of it, and they let it happen. they let it close. and if people die, the blood is on their hands. >> you know, what's the difference -- i mean, you used to watch the stuff on tv and see this stuff, and katrina, that's what motivated you to go down there. you saw this in haiti. that's what motivated you to go down there. you spent weeks and weeks there, longer probably than any other well-known person, and you're running a camp of some 60,000 people. what is different -- i mean, what have you learned about, you know, a lot of people look at the stuff, see it on tv. over the last couple months, what have you learned about doing this, about how this actually works on the ground?
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>> i think that in disaster overcaution kills people is the likely lesson. and i hope that we don't learn it factually. >> sean penn, i appreciate you being with us tonight, again, thank you very much. we'll check in with you again. >> thanks a lot. next a look at a high school that everyone should follow. where one senior is headed. harry's principles. our contributor has the story right after this.
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tonight, we continue "perry's principles." urban prep academy in illinois opened its doors in 2006 as the country's first public charter high school. back then only 4% of this year's senior class read at grade level. now 107 of them are going to college. it's a school that does not fail its students. how did they do it? >> here's steve perry with the
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headmaster. >> we're here in inglewood. this is urban class, they're going to send 70 african-american, young men to college. holy grail in academia. i'm excited. mr. king, i know when you say that you send 100% of your kids to college, a lot of people don't believe it. >> right. >> sometimes for their purposes, you have to introduce them to the world. >> need to see proof. >> this is a lot of proof. >> on this wall, every time a student is admitted to college we take their admission letter, copy it and put it up on the wall in the school. >> people see results. they're going to say, 100% of your seniors going on to college. you must pick the kids. you can't be a public school. >> yeah. we get that a lot. people tell us all the time, oh, you're a selective enrollment school. we're not. we're public school. we're a charter school. we're publicly funded and don't
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select our students based on criter criteria. >> you have a striped tie on. what does that mean? >> this means i've been accepted into four year college or yurt. >> which schools? >> i've been accepted to 13. >> 13? tell me about inglewood. >> this here is a tough community. >> you hear that, people? it's critical. >> i was born and raised in west inglewood. i don't know if you've heard over the news the past few days there have been people getting shot. >> just outside here. >> just outside of inglewood. and i'm like, okay, this is ridiculous. this should not be going on within our communities. you know, i'm sitting at home, you know, with family and you hear gunshots or you hear ambulance. >> at your house in. >> within my community. this is within my community. >> you're doing home work while gunshots are going off. >> uh. >> then you have to come to school the next day. >> uh-huh. >> suited up. >> right. >> how do you make the transition through the neighborhoods?
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>> it's one of those things where, like, if you're noticing those things within a neighborhood and you're, like, okay, this is why i need to go to school. this is why i need to get a four-year degree. i don't want to end up like this. better yet, e can't do something to help change this. >> what is the reason you're able to be successful in a city, in a neighborhood where other schools cannot? >> well, i think that we have worked really hard to create an environment in which students feel welcomed and feel supported and feel like they are part of something special, and are ready and willing to work hard. >> this is urban prep. urban prep is an oasis. an opportunity for children to believe in themselves and dream beyond their circumstances. create an opportunity where there didn't seem to be one and go on to a four-year college. at a rate of 100%. we know how to run successful schools. the question now is will we? >> steve, what challenge did you
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seek out by going to urban prep? >> the challenge that they've overcome is the achievement gap. very often we talk about african-american males not performing on the same level students who are white and female and what we find, white and/or female. what we find urban prep created a school much like many other successful schools where they have an extended day, extended year. they have higher expectations of every single child. what's most important, they have high expectations of every single faculty member. what they did -- they decide to hire someone based upon whether or not that person believes every single child can go to college. >> how easy was it for the principal, for mr. king to open the charter school? >> oh, well actually, he tried three times. the first time he was told no by the city. the second time he was told no. he was about to walk away. their motto is, we believe. so he felt that if he really believed in his motto he had to fill it. >> all right. fascinating. steve perry, appreciate it. thanks, steve. >> thank you.
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next, the latest on the case of the massachusetts high school student accused of bullying a 15-year-old classmate who killed herself. plus the game show shocker. one family feud contestant tells us why ellen degeneres is famous. you won't believe his answer. we'll show you the tape. can i eat heart healthy without giving up taste? a man can only try... and try. i heard eating whole grain oats can help lower my cholesterol. it's gonna be tough...so tough. my wife and i want to lower our cholesterol, but finding healthy food that tastes good is torturous. your father is suffering. [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. [ female announcer ] try new chocolate cheerios with a touch of delicious chocolate taste in every bite.
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following a number of other stories. randi kaye has a 360 bulletin. >> in west virginia the search for four missing miners could resume if the air quality in the upper big branch mine continues to improve. rescuers entered the mine this morning but pulled out when gas levels became too high. officials are taking air samples every 15 minutes and say the levels are decreasing. a 360 follow now. 15-year-old phoebe prince hanged herself last january, after months of harassment at a massachusetts high school.
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well, today lawyers entered not guilty pleas for three 16-year-old girls accused of bullying her. three other teenagers have already pled not guilty to a long list of charges. tiger woods today shot a four under par 68 in augusta, georgia, his best opening round score of masters career and first tournament since the car accident last thanksgiving led to sexual revelations and a more than four-month hiatus from the game of golf. and two canadian brothers adopted by different families spent years trying to find each other. they post contacted a post-adoption services agency that told them, get this, they were neighbors living yards apart. >> no. >> yes, for the past two years. >> that's crazy. >> they actually lived across the street from each other. from what i understand, one of them who found out this was the case waited for the other one to get home from work one night, walked over and introduced himself. >> that's amazing. unbelievable. i don't know if you've seen
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this. ellen degeneres and the family feud. this clip is on youtube. thefs one of the topics on the game show. the family was asked to name something everyone knows about her. check out one of these responses. >> everyone knows about ellen degeneres. >> i know she has a talk show. >> a talk show? show me the talk show. >> everyone knows about ellen degeneres? >> she loves to dance. >> loves to dance. she loves to dance. chance to sweep the board. one answer remains. give it to me. >> i would say she doesn't like our country very well. >> doesn't like the country. >> doesn't like our country? >> why would this guy say she doesn't like america? it's so bizarre. what i find odder is the audience is like, oh, yeah -- no. >> cheering him on with that